I’ll get to today’s song in a minute. 🙂

Yesterday, I was totally wiped out by the time I got home from Georgetown, and didn’t have the energy to post, but the conspiracy was a success! The family and my parents’ next door neighbors managed to pull off our surprise party for my mother’s 75th birthday. It’s been in the works for a month at least, and an astounding number of emails and messages were passed back and forth without her catching on. (Or at least she said she was surprised, and that is probably the best we can hope for.)

Under the guise that we were having a tea party for the Mystery Readers (who usually take August off, but we concocted a reason for the exception), we got the ladies to Catherine’s house. Then, after about 30 minutes of socializing, the rest of the family showed up singing “Happy Birthday.” Mom looked surprised at least.

Here are a few shots from the party:

Mother (right) & friends                     Menfolk, and Brianna

Our hostess, Catherine

My sisters — Julie, Donna, and Lauren — and Papa.

Grandkids — Christa           Keith                                    Brianna

Byron                                      Jamison

And now we get to the reason I picked this song for today. Catherine and Larry have the most amazing backyard, full of wonderful statuary creatures and surprises around all the corners. Here are some of my favorite shots:

And, of course, the hummingbirds:

Not to be outdone, Jamison commandeered my camera, and took some pictures of her own. Some of these turned out quite well:

Others, were kind of typical 5 year old…

But I think she should get her own camera soon!

That’s enough for now. Everyone had a great time, but I am still recuperating today. 😉

And if anyone is keeping track, I decided not to try and force my story to a conclusion for Monday’s deadline. I may finish it later, but I have a thousand other projects to do first!